Rationing health care to everyone: -$634 billion (in round one)
Reneging on promises to veterans: +$540 million
Fulfilling fundamental moral obligations: too high for Obama to bear
I always thought Obama was for universal healthcare. From his campaign trail rhetoric (health care is a right!) to his $634-billion “down payment” on nationalized health insurance, I sort of gathered that he favored, y’know, putting as many people as possible on the government dole.
And he is. Okay, mostly he is. The exception? If you’re a veteran.
To save $540 million, Obama proposes that private insurance companies now pay for treatment of veterans’ “service-connected disabilities and injuries.” Get injured serving your country? Kthxbai (as the internet meme goes), enjoy the paperwork! The government will no longer foot the bill. Private companies will instead be refunding the VA.
Government and its bureaucracy rarely (if ever) do things well. But covering the health care costs of a soldier injured while defending and protecting that same government and bureaucracy should be a straight-forward proposition: yes, we should.
